Guidelines for fighting forest encroachers

Lite Beer · May 1, 2015

Guidelines for fighting forest encroachers
PIYANUT TUMNUKASETCHAI,
PRASIT TANGPRASERT
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Paiboon wants policy for fake land deeds

JUSTICE Minister Paiboon Koom-chaya has told 20 state agencies to set up guidelines to deal with the illegitimate issuance of land-rights documents and forestland encroachment natiowide and presented them at a meeting on May 15.

Yesterday's meeting heard that forest encroachment had worsened to the point that Thailand was left with only about 102 million rai or 16.3 million hectares of forest, or under 32 per cent of the country's total area. That forest area has been shrinking by a million rai per year.

Key contributing factors included unclear boundaries, illegal issuance of land-rights documents, ineffective law enforcement and state officials' involvement in encroachment.

The new guidelines would see the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry oversee the clarification of forestland boundaries nationwide. These definitions would be used in the prosecution of encroachers with or without land-rights documents, Paiboon said in his capacity as chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Administrative Centre.

The guidelines would ensure justice and provide remedial measures to private enterprises that bought land in good faith with documents wrongly issued by state agencies, he said.

"The government understands that people have invested in and operated businesses on land they brought from the Legal Execution Department, so we want to be clear that they would still be able to continue their business. However, if an examination by the authorities finds that their land-rights documents were issued illegitimately, that must be solved," he said.

Paiboon said if the people were confident their documents were legal, they could explain this to relevant officials without waiting for an inspection.

The minister admitted some problems with land-rights documents involved state officials, saying it would take time to solve this issue, as it had been in place for decades.

He instructed local officials to report which areas had been encroached upon by influential figures so a state committee could help them handle such situations.

In related news, a landowner near Phu Phop Fa in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district told police yesterday she didn't know provincial Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) surveyor Porntawee Sutantirat, who was earlier transferred over allegations that she had issued illegitimate land-rights documents.

Phakamon Kijsirikul, 34, presented herself as the owner of a piece of land with three housing units that reportedly encroached on agricultural-reform land, Provincial Police Region 3 deputy chief Pol Maj-General Thanet Sunthornsuk said.

Phakamon insisted she didn't know Porntawee. Thanet said police would investigate her claim, finding out who applied for house registration numbers and electricity meters, as well as asking neighbours if Phakhamon was really the landowner or just a nominee for someone else.

Porntawee, meanwhile, was at her office in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday to remove items from her desk, as she is expected to report to her new post at the ALRO on Wednesday.